Cannondale Hollowgram Tubeless-ONLY Wheels

Just a heads-up if you're considering these wheels. They're great wheels, but really should be run with tubeless tires.

I bought these wheels second-hand, but new - a guy bought a new Cannodale, but kept his Zipps. Sweet deal on a set of sweet carbon wheels. And, they came with a set of Schwalbe tires mounted... with tubes.

I have a few hundred miles on the wheels. They're great. Well, with one exception. I flatted on a ride this week. First flat in a long (!) time and first flat with this wheelset and tires. It took 20 minutes to swap the tube.

I have been riding and building bikes since my BMX days in the 80s. I'm one of the guys in the club the others look to when something goes wrong with their bike - including changing a flat (morning rides are time crunched). Well, I let two other guys jump in to see if they could do better. One of the guys was a bike mechanic years ago.

There were a lot of comments like "Son of a &#^* this is tight" "This $&@* won't go on" We were unsure if the tires were "small" or the rim was "big". That evening, in the comfort and convenience of my shop (garage), I swapped the tires for a set of Contis hoping the Schwalbes were the culprit. Nope. It's the rims. Got one on. But after destroying my fingers, I ran out of gas (and feeling) and gave up. Decided it was moot anyway - NO WAY I'm going through that wrestling match on the side of the road again.

So, tubeless tires have been ordered. Damn it.

Yes, we tried finishing at the stem, finishing opposite the stem, making sure the bead was in the middle...

I don't understand how tubeless tires are going to help that, as they're generally pretty/really tight and their (or is it there? or they're? - j/k joke from another thread) beads don't stretch.

That tire looks brand spanking. I'd put it on another rim that you know it goes onto, inflate it to like 100 and leave it there for several days, and then put it in the dryer for a short time and then try to install it on the Cannondale wheels.

If there's a regular rim strip in there, take it out and replace it with Schwalbe tubeless tape (thinnest stuff going). There are various bead lubes (that sounds dirty) that can help with mounting, but dish soap works well for that. It just helps get that last chunk over the lip.

If you ordered Hutchinson tubeless, PLEASE take a video or at least sound record the installation. We all might learn some new naughty words.

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I just got a new bike with these wheels. Took both tires off (Pro One tubed) last night and put them back on with no problems. Only about a minute each with my bare hands to get them on. I was actually impressed with how easy it was.

Originally Posted by November Dave

I don't understand how tubeless tires are going to help that....

Yea me too. If they're that tight, tubeless tires will make a roadside repair impossible.

Really? tig, that's surprising. Three of four tires I/we tried were the tightest tires I've ever mounted on a road wheel. Ironically, the one tire I was able to mount (a 5 min. wrestling match) was a brand new Conti. New tires are usually a little bit tougher to mount. Those tubed Schwalbes were brutal. I do like the Schwalbes.

And again - I realize tubeless tires will be at least as difficult to mount. The thinking is that they will be less likely to require a roadside repair. I know tubeless isn't invincible... just less prone to pinch and puncture flats.

Really? tig, that's surprising. Three of four tires I/we tried were the tightest tires I've ever mounted on a road wheel. Ironically, the one tire I was able to mount (a 5 min. wrestling match) was a brand new Conti. New tires are usually a little bit tougher to mount. Those tubed Schwalbes were brutal. I do like the Schwalbes.

I was surprised to read your post considering I just checked the tires last night. Maybe you got an out of spec wheel? Or maybe I do!
I did a little research on the Hollowgram wheels before purchasing. Don't recall any complaints about tires fitting them.

The rim strip in mine is that (don't know what it's called) non-stretch plastic webbing strap stuff that's heat welded at the seam. Not sure how thick it is.

I've been running Schwalbe Pro One tubeless on my other bike (winter foul/weather bike). And have to say I'm really impressed. I was concerned about how thin they feel. But they've held up great. Replaced my first one (rear) at 3,300mi. It was still in really good condition. Never had a flat, or puncture I was aware of. But it was getting pretty squared off. The front tire still looks great.

I was looking for a review on the Cannondale Hollowgram wheels, and came across this thread. I had a similar issue a couple of days ago, with a Shimano RS500 front wheel. I was changing a tube and after changing the tube, I got all but the last 10 inches or so, of the Conti Gatorskin tire back on the rim (very similar to the photo in the OP). I even snapped a tire lever, trying to get the tire back on.

I decided to do a search on the internet for mounting a tight bicycle tire. I found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPWBbDR3oag. Now, the guy in the video is mounting a mountain bike tire, but the concept is the same. I followed his example, and I was able to mount the tire on my Shimano rim with just my fingers - well, thumbs, actually.

"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This happens at the shop all the time. People come in w/ tires they can't mount. Stories of broken levers, their whole group ride wrestling w/ the tire on the side of the road for 30mins. I would say about 99% of the time I get them on w/ my hands. Probably 75% of the time I can get them off w/ my hands. But...

There is that 1% or so that are truly a ***** to get on. There are a couple tires that I won't even try to install. Mostly WTB Tubeless Light mtb tires.

I work for some bike racers
I've got some bikes, some guns,
and a bunch of skateboards

Generally though, most tires will mount up OK if you get the bead in the valley of the rim. New 'handmade in Germany' Continentals do tend to be on the tight side, but they air up with a floor pump if they're tubeless.

In my experience, a tire being tubeless has little to do with how tight it fits. Specialized and Maxxis tires are fairly loose, but work very well tubeless. They do tend to need the old soapy water trick for the initial seating though, at least on my Eastons.

...about 99% of the time I get them on w/ my hands. Probably 75% of the time I can get them off w/ my hands. But...

There is that 1% or so that are truly a ***** to get on. There are a couple tires that I won't even try to install. Mostly WTB Tubeless Light mtb tires.

cwrench, as I've mentioned before, my 40+ years of doing my own wrenching, brings a lot of bad habits, over confidence, dismissal of manuals (wait... when did front derailleurs get alignment screws)... So, in my recognition of this, and attempts to be openminded, tell me (us) what I'm likely doing wrong with the tire mounting. Should I start at the valve? Finish at the valve? Does that matter? Is it all about making sure the bead's in the valley?

Side note: Kool Stop's tire jack works great for that 1% (or when you're doing it wrong)

cwrench, as I've mentioned before, my 40+ years of doing my own wrenching, brings a lot of bad habits, over confidence, dismissal of manuals (wait... when did front derailleurs get alignment screws)... So, in my recognition of this, and attempts to be openminded, tell me (us) what I'm likely doing wrong with the tire mounting. Should I start at the valve? Finish at the valve? Does that matter? Is it all about making sure the bead's in the valley?

On tubed tires, start at the valve. You can push the valve stem up a bit and get the bead down into the valley.
On tubeless, start opposite the valve. Since the valve is fixed, you can never get the bead into the valley at that spot. So that's where you want to finish.

Side note: Kool Stop's tire jack works great for that 1% (or when you're doing it wrong)

Yes a great tool. Pretty cheap too.
(or when you're just too lazy to fight with a tight tire)

On tubed tires, start at the valve. You can push the valve stem up a bit and get the bead down into the valley.
On tubeless, start opposite the valve. Since the valve is fixed, you can never get the bead into the valley at that spot. So that's where you want to finish.

Yes a great tool. Pretty cheap too.
(or when you're just too lazy to fight with a tight tire)

^This^ is what I do. And I should probably order a tire jack.

I work for some bike racers
I've got some bikes, some guns,
and a bunch of skateboards

Generally though, most tires will mount up OK if you get the bead in the valley of the rim. New 'handmade in Germany' Continentals do tend to be on the tight side, but they air up with a floor pump if they're tubeless.

In my experience, a tire being tubeless has little to do with how tight it fits. Specialized and Maxxis tires are fairly loose, but work very well tubeless. They do tend to need the old soapy water trick for the initial seating though, at least on my Eastons.

After reading this and thinking about what you wrote I'm a little confused. As this is RBR and not MTBR (I know...I mentioned WTB tires) the Conti tires you mention are mtb tires, right? They don't make a tubeless road tire. And it sounds like you're talking about normal clincher Specialized and Maxxis tires which should NEVER be used tubeless. Tubeless tire do fit tighter, and the TLR rims have a slightly larger diameter where the tire seats. It's part of the tubeless design, they need to be tighter or they'll never seat.
Please tell me you haven't been using normal Conti/Specialized/Maxxis clinchers as tubeless tires.

I work for some bike racers
I've got some bikes, some guns,
and a bunch of skateboards

Sorry - yes, mixing in MTB WTB tires there. With Specialized, I was referring to both MTB (a variety of 29") and road 2bliss tires (Turbo 28s). Conti tubeless are only MTB, because like you say, they don't make a tubeless road tire. And no, I'm not dumb enough to use non-tubeless tires as tubeless.

Still though, my Maxxis (MTB) and Specialized (road and MTB) tires fit more loosely than something like a tubed GP4000, not to mention a GP 4 seasons. It's not an issue once mounted though. Perhaps the ID of the Easton solid walled rims that I use (EA90 SL, EA90 XC, Haven) is ever so slightly smaller than a layer or two of tape on a 'normal' tubeless rim that other tires may or may not be designed around. Whatever the case, I can easily pop those tires on a rim, so the OP shouldn't assume that a tubeless tire will always be tighter, as there are a lot of variables. To throw in another one, my crappy tubeless Hutchinsons were a total ***** to mount on the same EA90 SLs that easily accept a Specialized tire.